Asia Cup 2008

India win to fight another day, enter finals

In a display that is befitting the might of the Indian batting order, India beat Sri Lanka by six wickets to gain two valuable points and re-affirm their status as favourites to win the tournament. They have now entered the final of the tournament and will play Sri Lanka in th replay of the final of the previous edition in 2004, which Sri Lanka had won.

Scorecard

Batting first, Sri Lanka put up a fighting 308 in their allotted fifty overs as three players scored half centuries. Captain Jayawardene and Chamara Silva each scored 50 odd and Kapugadera top scored with 75. For a change, the Indian bowling showed some spine and thus were able to take wickets at a regular interval. Obviously the two changes made were in the bowling department as RP Singh and Pragyan Ojha came in.

But to win the match, the batting had to fire and it did. Sehwag and Gambhir put up 92 in 11.4 overs and from then on, it was easu sailing for the rest of the batsmen. There were a few hiccups as the Indians lost four wickets but first Dhoni and Raina held fort, and then Yuvraj and Rohit fought on till the end.

The win came when two of Sri Lanka’s better bowlers in the tournament, Vaas and Mendis have been rested and when they do play in the final on sunday, it will be tougher for the team then.

This also means that Pakistan are now out of the tournament and tomorrow’s match against Bangladesh is just a formality.

Tags: Asia Cup 2008, dhoni, gambhir, India, sehwag, sri lanka, yuvraj